Report: The Edmonton Stingers Underestimate Cameron Forte And The Fraser Valley Bandits! Is This An Early Rivalry In The CEBL?

In the previous season, the Edmonton Stingers were among the best teams in the CEBL as they had many elite players while also inhabiting the MVP of the league being Xavier Moon. Unfortunately, their season was shortened. They managed to blow a lead in the semi-conference finals to a lower-seeded team, which would indefinitely eliminate them out of the playoffs. This season, however, Edmonton made some significant changes to the roster in hopes of having a higher chance of winning a championship for the province of Alberta. 

Adika Peter-Mcneilly stat-line- 18 PTS | 2 AST | 2 STL

On the other hand, the Fraser Valley Bandits missed the playoffs last season, which only fueled the organization with vengeance and control. In the previous season, the Bandits were at times a dysfunctional team as they were at the bottom of the CEBL for the majority of the year. But this season, the Bandits revamped their entire roster and managed to construct an ideal roster that can shoot the ball while playing solid defence inside the paint! 

On July 26, 2020, the Edmonton Stingers would face off the Fraser Valley Bandits, a team heavily doubted before they even constructed a viable roster. Due to their reputation last season, many CEBL fans were discounting them as a contender early on, which led to the Stingers endeavour throughout the game. Right off the gates, the Bandits would construct an early lead with Cameron Forte scoring virtually everywhere on the court. From his elite inside presence to his ability to pass the ball to open teammates, Forte managed to make everyone around him significantly better, which led to the Stingers losing confidence. In this game, the entire roster was losing faith, but the only spark that continued to ignite their flame somewhat was Brody Clarke and Adika Peter-Mcneilly, who both scored more than 15 points off the bench! While the starters were struggling throughout the game, Clarke and Adika managed to bring a scary advantage, which was one of the only positive takeaways this team possessed. With the Bandits impressive defence and scoring ability by Cameron Forte, Kyle Johnson, and Junior Cadougan, they led the quarter with a score of 32-19!

Edmonton early on turned over the ball countless times and played sloppy as a unit. However, when entering the second quarter, Brody Clarke exploded as a scorer and hit numerous threes, which was the only aspect that kept Edmonton alive in this game. Even though Clarke was catching fire, the Bandits seemed to be the more comfortable team on the court as everyone scored the ball and played this game as if it was a meaningless practice scrimmage. While the Stingers were gasping for air, the Bandits were dancing on Edmonton, which led Fraser Valley to grow their lead. The final score at the end of the first half was 59-42, as Edmonton was left speechless due to the shocking play of the Fraser Valley Bandits. 

Cameron Forte stat-line- 28 PTS | 10 REB | 3 AST

Entering the second half, Edmonton needed to fix their pacing and less on rushing to score the basketball. One of the issues that Edmonton had in this game was, they always rushed to score the basketball instead of taking their time. This was problematic, and rather than learning from their mistake, they continued playing this method, which would dig them into a deeper hole. The Bandits, however, started to lose momentum as they were missing some relatively simple shots. Edmonton managed to make an impressive comeback only because the Bandits were struggling on offence. At one point in this quarter, the Stingers brought the game to single digits, which woke up the Bandits on offence. Fraser Valley practically teased Edmonton as they allowed them to build momentum and confidence only to crush them even more. In the second half of this quarter, Fraser Valley silenced Edmonton and went on a huge scoring run ending this quarter with a score of 85-67! 

Even though Edmonton had a decent run at the beginning of the third quarter, Fraser Valley had a confident assertiveness due to how personal this game was. Every player on Fraser Valley had a personal agenda towards Edmonton, making this game an indication of a future rivalry in the CEBL. Cameron Forte, Jahenns Manigot, Junior Cadougan, Kyle Johnson, Marcus Capers, and Malcolm Duvivier all scored double digits while eliminating any hope for the Stingers. However, towards the end of the game, Edmonton made an impressive comeback once again crowning the second half they threw when it came to quick scoring runs. The Stingers managed to decrease their deficit to single digits, often only to find out that the Fraser Valley Bandits would mock all their hard work. Manigot would shoot a disrespectful three-pointer to ice this game with the final score being 113-100 making the Fraser Valley Bandits having a better start to their season compared to last. Is this an early rivalry in the CEBL?